The Future of Consumerist

Over the last twelve years, Consumerist has been a steadfast proponent and voice on behalf of consumers, from exposing shady practices by secretive cable companies to pushing for action against dodgy payday lenders. Now, we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports, our parent organization, to cultivate the next generation of consumer advocacy.

Stay tuned as Consumerist’s current and future content finds its home as a part of the Consumer Reports brand. In the meantime, you can access existing Consumerist content below, and we encourage you to visit Consumer Reports to read the latest consumer news.

There isn’t really a great way to make it up to homeowners that don’t even hold a mortgage when you’ve sent a crew to break into their house and take everything out of it, but we suppose “sorry” is an okay, if lackluster, start. A California couple says Wells Fargo made a huge mistake by trying to take their home and now they’re not being very helpful in getting the family’s belongings back to them.

Alvin built the home with his father when he was a teenager, reports CBS Los Angeles, and has a lifetime of memories invested in the house. Not to mention all of his family’s possessions, many of which are lost or broken after a crew hired by Wells Fargo broke in and took everything away. They shouldn’t have done that, as the home doesn’t even have a mortgage. It was all a big mistake, says the bank.

A spokesman for the bank released a statement apologizing, saying:

“We are deeply sorry for the very personal losses the [redacted] family suffered as a result of their home being mistakenly secured and entered by a contractor hired to address a different nearby property. We moved quickly and have been in contact with the Tjosaas family to resolve this unfortunate situation and right this wrong.”

That’s not really enough for Alvin and his wife, he says, but they’re trying to move on despite the upheaval in their lives.

“When you put your heart into something…it makes me real sad. I’m just glad I have my sweetheart. We’ve been together a long time,” he said.

Sending a notice of foreclosure to the wrong home? Sure, that could happen. But actively hiring a crew to go to the entirely wrong address and break into the home is a new level of horrible.